Isaiah 23:2

Isa 23:2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

Ver. 2. Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle.] A nundinatorio strepitu quiescite, et plorate, Be quiet, and mourn.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 23:2-3. Be still, ye inhabitants of the isles — Hebrew, דמו, be silent; as persons confounded, and not knowing what to say, or as mourners use to be. Silence is a mark of grief and consternation: see Isa 47:5; Lamentations 11:10. The prophet here addresses the people of Tyre now fled to the island. The title of island, however, is often given by the Hebrews to places not surrounded by the sea, but only bordering upon it; whom the merchants of Zidon have replenished — With mariners and commodities. Tyre and Sidon, being cities near each other, and both famous for merchandise and navigation, helped to enrich each other. And by great waters the seed of Sihor, &c. — Sihor here means the river Nile, so called, as it is also Jer 2:18, and 1Ch 13:5, from the blackness of its waters charged with the mud, which it brings down from Ethiopia, when it overflows; as it was called by the Greeks Melas, and by the Latins Melo, for the same reason. “The English translation,” says Lowth, “published under Queen Elizabeth, gives us a clearer sense of this verse thus: The seed of Nilus, growing by the abundance of waters, and the harvest of the river was her revenues.” Egypt, by its extraordinary fertility, caused by the overflowing of the Nile, supplied the neighbouring nations with corn, by which branch of trade the Tyrians gained great wealth.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23:2 Sidon was a Phoenician port to the north of Tyre. • Tyre’s commercial network of traders was extensive.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Have haunteth thee, and enriched thee.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Be still--"struck dumb with awe." Addressed to those already in the country, eye-witnesses of its ruin (Lam 2:10); or, in contrast to the busy din of commerce once heard in Tyre; now all is hushed and still.

isle--strictly applicable to New Tyre: in the sense coast, to the mainland city, Old Tyre (compare Isa 23:6; Isa 20:6).

Zidon--of which Tyre was a colony, planted when Zidon was conquered by the Philistines of Ascalon. Zidon means a "fishing station"; this was its beginning.

replenished--with wealth and an industrious population (Eze 27:3, Eze 27:8, Eze 27:23). Here "Zidon," as the oldest city of Phœnicia, includes all the Phœnician towns on the strip of "coast." Thus, Eth-baal, king of Tyre [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 8.3,2], is called king of the Sidonians (Kg1 16:31); and on coins Tyre is called the metropolis of the Sidonians.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. Be still - "Be silent"] Silence is a mark of grief and consternation. See Isa 47:5. Jeremiah has finely expressed this image: -

"The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the

ground, they are silent:

They have cast up dust on their heads, they

have girded themselves with sackcloth.

The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their

heads to the ground."

La 2:10.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(2) Inhabitants of the isle . . .—Better, coast. The word was specially appropriate to the narrow seaboard strip of land occupied by the Phœnicians—Zidon, the older city, the “great Zidon” of Jos_11:8; Jos_19:28, appearing as the representative of Phœnicia generally. It was her commerce that had filled Tyre and the other daughter cities. The “dumbness” to which the prophet calls the people is that of stupefied terror.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. The prophet next apostrophises the inhabitants of the coast (render so, as in ch. Isa_20:6), i.e. Phœnicia, calling them to be still, or rather dumb, with bewilderment.

the merchants (in Heb. collective sing.) of Zidon] Zidon is generally interpreted throughout this prophecy as standing for Phœnicia as a whole. This is perhaps unnecessary, although it can easily be justified by usage (see Deu_3:9; Jdg_3:3; 1Ki_11:1, &c.). Zidon is said to have been the most ancient of the Phœnician settlements, and its merchants might naturally be spoken of as having founded the commercial prosperity of the country.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle,.... Either the isles of Chittim, or other islands that traded with Tyre, the singular being put for the plural, called upon to grieve and mourn, because the city of their merchandise was destroyed, as Kimchi; or of Tyre itself, which being situated at some distance from the shore, was an island itself, until it was joined to the continent by Alexander (q); and even old Tyre might be so called, it being usual in Scripture to call places by the seashore isles; and besides, old Tyre included in it new Tyre, the island, as Pliny (r) suggests; who are instructed to be silent as mourners, and to cease from the hurries of business, which they would be obliged to, and not boast of their power and wealth, as they had formerly done, or attempt to defend themselves, which would be in vain:

thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished; Zidon was a very ancient city of Phoenicia, more ancient than Tyre; for Tyre was a colony of the Zidonians, and built by them, and so might be said to be replenished by them with men from the first, as it also was with mariners, Eze 27:8 and likewise with merchants and wares, they being a trading and seafaring people; wherefore they are spoken of as merchants, and as passing over the sea: or this may be understood of the isles replenished with goods by the merchants of Tyre and Zidon, but now no more, and therefore called to mourning.

(q) Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19. (r) Ibid.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Be still - This is the description of a city which is destroyed, where the din of commerce, and the sound of revelry is no longer heard. It is an address of the prophet to Tyre, indicating that it would be soon still, and destroyed.

Ye inhabitants of the isle - (of Tyre). The word ‘isle’ (אי 'iy) is sometimes used to denote a “coast or maritime region” (see the note at Isa 20:6), but there seems no reason to doubt that here it means the island on which New Tyre was erected. This may have been occupied even before Old Tyre was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, though the main city was on the crest.

Thou whom the merchants of Zidon - Tyre was a colony from Sidon; and the merchants of Sidon would trade to Tyre as well as to Sidon.

Have replenished - Hebrew, ‘have filled,’ that is, with merchandise, and with wealth. Thus, in Eze 27:8, Tyre is represented as having derived its seamen from Sidon: ‘Theinhabitants of Sidon and of Arvad were thy mariners.’ And in Eze 27:9-23, Tyre is represented as having been filled with shipbuilders, merchants, mariners, soldiers, etc., from Gebal, Persia, Lud, Phut, Tarshish, Jayvan, Tubal, Mesheck, Dedan, Syria, Damascus, Arabia, etc.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Island. Tyre was originally surrounded with water. A communication with the land was made afterwards, Josue xix. 29. (Calmet) (Ezechiel xxvii.) (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Be still, Heb. Be silent, as one confounded, and not knowing what to say, or as mourners use to be, Job 2 8,13; Isa 47:5; boast no more of thy wealth and power, as thou usedst to do.

Of the isle, Heb. of Tyrus, which now was an island, Eze 27:3; 28:2, till Alexander joined it to the continent, as Pithy reports. Although the title of islands is oft given by the Hebrews to places bordering upon the sea.

Zidon; an eminent city of Palestine, nigh unto Tyre, much concerned with her and for her.

That pass over the sea; that are a seafaring people. Have replenished; with mariners, Eze 27:8, and commodities.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Be still — Or, dumb with astonishment.

Isle — In Hebrew, this word applies to the coast, whether of island or mainland. Therefore, the inhabitants of the towns on the Mediterranean are here addressed, who were enriched by commerce with Phoenicia. Zidon was a city of honour, not because greater, but because more ancient, than Tyre.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Be still; rather, be silent, as in the margin. It would be idle to complain or lament. Ye inhabitants of the isle. Tyro was situated on a small isle, which Alexander joined to the mainland by means of a mole (Arrian, "Exp. Alex.," 2:23). It is uncertain, however, whether this isle is meant here, or the strip of Phoenician coast, since the Hebrew i has both meanings. Thou whom the merchants of Zidon... have replenished. During the flourishing period of Tyro (B.C. 1025-585), Zidon, though it had generally kings of its own, played a secondary part to Tyre, and for the most part acquiesced in Tyrian supremacy. Its best sailors served in the Tyrian fleet, (Eze_27:8) and its merchants were content to enrich the recognized "chief city.

The dependence of one nation upon another.

Tyre was, according to some authorities, a colony of Zidon. And the figure in the text sets forth a corporate body, each part dependent on the other. Insular Tyre directly dependent on the mainland, and both closely related to Zidon. And yet further, the Egyptians had in their country no timber for the building of seaworthy ships, so their foreign trade was carried on for them by the Phoenicians. Some of the European nations now are pressing to secure seaports, in order to relieve their sense of dependence on others. Insular England does the carrying trade for the world, so all nations depend on her, and she in turn depends on the trading of the nations. In the pottery districts we were told that the white clay, of which biscuit china is made, is brought all the way from Cornwall, because it can be more easily carried than the heavier clay, and the coal, which are needed for the firing process. So even Staffordshire depends on Cornwall, and Cornwall on Staffordshire. Some countries send us corn, some sugar, some spice, some cotton, some fruit. Countries vary in their genius. Rome finds law for the world, Greece finds art, and Palestine finds religion. For its highest wellbeing no one nation can separate itself from the others. It lives and thrives by its very dependence. We only note

I THAT THIS MUTUAL DEPENDENCE TENDS TO CHECK THE WAR-SPIRIT. The people of the nations never want war. They may be roused to a fever-heat of passion, and so be driven into war; but the long experience of the ages proves that, whoever gets good out of war, the people always suffer. Classes of society want war; but only for the maintenance of selfish interests. The evil of war is seen in its shutting the markets of the world. Such is England"s dependence on foreign corn, and so nearly does it consume its stores in the face of the new harvest, that six months" war would threaten famine. All classes, except those who trade in war and war material, pray and strive for universal peace. Man"s true interests support the Christian principles.

II THAT THIS MUTUAL DEPENDENCE ENRICHES ALL SECTIONS. God has ordered his world so that nobody shall be "sufficient to himself." And the more a man seems to have, the more dependent he becomes, because of the increase of his wants. The most independent man is the ignorant laborer, who can lie anywhere and eat anything; the least independent, the wealthy man who has encouraged ten thousand needless wants and luxuries. God puts the abundance of one thing in one land, and of another thing in another. And the exchange of commodities enriches all. The world is one body, "and if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it." The interest of one nation is the interest of all. God is the God and Father of all. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Be still - Hebrew. be silent, boast no more of thy wealth and power. The isle - Of Tyre, which was an island, 'till Alexander joined it to the continent. The title of islands is often given by the Hebrew to places bordering upon the sea. That pass - That are a sea-faring people. Replenished - With manners, and commodities.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

"Be alarmed, ye inhabitants of the coast! Sidonian merchants, sailing over the sea, filled thee once. And the sowing of Sichor came upon great waters, the harvest of the Nile, her store; and she became gain for nations." The suffixes of מלּא (to fill with wares and riches) and תּבוּאה (the bringing in, viz., into barns and granaries) refer to the word אי, which is used here as a feminine for the name of a country, and denotes the Phoenician coast, including the insular Tyre. "Sidonian merchants" are the Phoenicians generally, as in Homer; for the "great Sidon" of antiquity (Zidon rabbâh, Jos 11:8; Jos 19:28) was the mother-city of Phoenicia, which so thoroughly stamped its name upon the whole nation, that Tyre is called צדנם אם upon Phoenician coins. The meaning of Isa 23:3 is not that the revenue of Tyre which accrued to it on the great unfruitful sea, was like a Nile-sowing, or an Egyptian harvest (Hitzig, Knobel). Such a simile would be a very beautiful one, but it is a very unlikely one, since the Phoenicians actually did buy up the corn-stores of Egypt, that granary of the ancient world, and housed the cargoes that were brought to them "upon great waters," i.e., on the great Mediterranean. Sichor is a Hebraic form of Siris (the native name of the upper Nile, according to Dionysius Perieg. and Pliny). It signifies the black river (Meals, Eust. on Dion. Per. 222), the black slime of which gave such fertility to the land. "The harvest of the Nile" is not so much an explanation as an amplification. The valley of the Nile was the field for sowing and reaping, and the Phoenician coast was the barn for this valuable corn; and inasmuch as corn and other articles of trade were purchased and bartered there, it thereby became gain (constr. of sachar, Ewald, 213, a, used in the same sense as in Isa 18:1-7, Isa 45:14, and Pro 3:14), i.e., the means of gain, the source of profit or provision, to whole nations, and even to many such. Others render the word "emporium;" but sâchâr cannot have this meaning. Moreover, foreigners did not come to Phoenicia, but the Phoenicians went to them (Luzzatto).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Be silent oh inhabitants of the isle (or coast), the merchants of Sidon crossing the sea filled thee.” This may either be addressed to the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean which had long been frequented by the Phoenician traders, or to Phoenicia itself, which foreign commerce had enriched. The last explanation is commonly preferred; but the first is recommended by the fact that it assigns a reason for the mention of the foreign trade of Sidon, as accounting for the interest which other nations are supposed to feel in the fall of Tyre. On either supposition, Sidon, the other great city of Phoenicia, is put for the whole country.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Be silent, ye island dwellers Mourn and sit silently, you dwellers of the island of the sea. Why? The seafaring merchants of Zidon were wont to replenish you with all merchandise. Now, when Tyre falls, Zidon will fall with it, for they were within a day’s journey from one another.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Inhabitants of the isle. Inhabitants of Tyre. Whom the merchants of Zidon, etc. Although Tyre was full of merchants from Zidon, etc. Zidon. A town likewise on the sea; comp. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, etc., and his border shall be unto Zidon (Gen. 49:13)

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.